Long before the advent of modern medicine, people were using
essential oils for medicinal purposes. The oil of the evergreen shrub,
tea tree, was particularly venerated by ancient cultures, especially the
Australian Aborigines. In fact, evidence shows that the Aborigines have
been using the oils of their indigenous Melaleuca alternifolia tree for centuries to treat a wide array of conditions ranging from simple coughs to serious skin conditions.
Today, tea tree oil enjoys a reputation comparable to that of baking
soda or coconut oil: A must-have health product whose sanitary and
medicinal uses could fill (and have filled) numerous books. This article
provides a distillation of the three most popular uses for tea tree
oil.
Mouth Cleanser
There’s a good reason why so many mouth care products contain tea
tree oil as a central ingredient: Being a potent antibacterial, tea tree
oil is able to kill just about anything harmful residing in our mouths.
Adding a few drops of tea tree oil to a mixture of baking soda and
purified water, for instance, makes an excellent homemade toothpaste.
Alternatively, you can make a simple but potent mouthwash by mixing a
few drop of tea tree oil to purified water and swishing the mixture
around your mouth for a couple of minutes after brushing. Some people
like to add peppermint oil to the mixture to improve its taste.
Incidentally, if your morning consists of an oil pulling routine
using sesame or sunflower oil, consider adding a few drops of tea tree
oil to the oil to give it additional antibacterial power. Those of you
who oil pull using coconut oil don’t need to do this since coconut oil
is already an antibacterial.
Skin Care
Since tea tree oil is a antimicrobial and antifungal as well as an
antibacterial, it can help treat almost any skin condition through
topical application. If you’re suffering from acne, psoriasis, eczema,
athlete’s food, insect bites, cuts, rashes, or any other skin issue,
apply tea tree oil to the affected area using a cotton bud and leave it
to absorb for at least a few hours, but ideally overnight. If you find
that the oil is too harsh for your skin, you can dilute it with purified
water.
Note: Even though it is a natural product, using tea tree oil to
treat certain skin conditions might be futile if those conditions stem
from certain dietary or lifestyle issues that remain undiagnosed. For
example, a lot of people unknowingly suffer from common skin ailments
like acne or eczema due to a wheat or gluten intolerance. Therefore, if
tea tree oil or other antimicrobial products are failing to treat a
certain condition, that condition probably has a deeper cause that needs
to be treated before any residual symptoms can be addressed.
Household Cleaner
Who needs artificial and overpriced household cleaners when tea tree
oil can kill germs and microbes just as well, and without filling your
house with chemicals? To make a homemade cleaner out of tea tree oil,
simply combine two teaspoons of it with two cups of purified water in a
spray bottle. Then, the sky is the limit: from tiles to kitchen surfaces
to sinks to toilets, tea tree can clean it – and without leaving an
unpleasant, lingering aroma.
The greatest wealth is health!
